Magazines
   
Homepage



Martha shows
how to clean house


Media head Wenda Harris Millard is out as co-CEO

Apr 22, 2009

Through the years, Martha Stewart has attracted great talents to her publishing empire, but some stays are shorter than others, and the stay for co-CEO Wenda Harris Millard is now over.

She's out as of yesterday, on to a new venture, after reportedly squabbling with Stewart over the direction of the company at a point when ad pages for Martha Stewart Living are on a downward skid, along with those of so many other consumer titles.

Millard, a longtime media executive, joined the company less than two years ago from Yahoo, where she headed ad sales. She leaves MSLO to become president of Media Link, a media consulting firm.

The split comes as little surprise. Reports of the clash of personalities had been circulating for months.

The move puts Stewart even more at the center of MSLO operations while leaning out the company's top ranks.

Millard had shared the title of co-chief executive officer with Robin Marino, with Millard overseeing MSLO media operations and Marino in charge of merchandising.

Also in the command structure, along with Stewart herself: Charles Koppelman, with the title of executive chairman.

By all accounts it was an unwieldy arrangement, and with Millard gone, her position will not be filled. Koppelman will now oversee media. But as chief creative officer, Stewart will also be more involved.

MSLO is now running in the red after several strong years following Stewart’s release from prison for lying to federal investigators over a stock transaction where she was suspected of trading on insider information.

Ad pages for Martha Stewart Living were down 37 percent in the first quarter versus the year-earlier period, and it was the steepest decline of any of women's service titles (See chart, below).

Overall, that category performed well compared to so many others, with pages down some 13 percent when others saw page declines of 20 percent and 30 percent.

This is second major departure from MSLO.

Less than a year ago, Susan Lyne left after presiding over MSLO’s long turnaround following Stewart's release from prison. An able executive, Lyne at one point had served as entertainment president at ABC.


 

Women's Service
Year to date 2009 versus 2008

Titles

2009
 $s

2008 $s

%
chnge

'09
pages

'08
pages

%
chnge

BETTER HOMES & GARDENS   149,799,588 158,787,809 -5.7 320.34 357.22 -10.3
FAMILY CIRCLE   83,239,343 74,997,258 11.0 328.68 311.86 5.4
FIRST FOR WOMEN   10,723,281 10,037,100 6.8 145.40 147.82 -1.6
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING   113,991,161 118,629,280 -3.9 324.27 358.53 -9.6
LADIES' HOME JOURNAL   64,539,073 69,260,283 -6.8 255.88 283.81 -9.8
MARTHA            
STEWART LIVING   28,290,478 42,174,545 -32.9 179.47 284.69 -37.0
MORE   24,525,894 23,489,181 4.4 167.67 183.63 -8.7
REAL SIMPLE   37,851,200 53,882,669 -29.8 230.33 349.52 -34.1
REDBOOK   41,822,508 41,284,430 1.3 278.04 291.17 -4.5
WOMAN'S DAY   90,201,097 94,423,664 -4.5 345.47 382.16 -9.6
WOMANS WORLD   8,423,805 8,027,730 4.9 89.81 90.15 -0.4
WOMEN'S HEALTH   15,751,211 15,561,051 1.2 111.45 142.32 -21.7
WORKING MOTHER   4,715,766 4,741,150 -0.5 67.23 71.66 -6.2
TOTALS   673,874,405 715,296,150 -5.8 2,844.04 3,254.54 -12.6

Source: PIB

 



Louisa Ada Seltzer is a staff writer for Media Life.




Latest headlines
CBS takes its first Thursday, a slow one
Preparing for life after 'Oprah' wraps up
'Happily Ever Faster,' don't bet on it
In Union Square, dunk Joey the Clown
Do you understand web measurement?
Agencies to Nielsen: Reinstate live stream
Rachel, help, we're being left in the dark
Best tube bets this weekend

BBC America president Garth Ancier steps down
Nicke Bergstrom becomes creative director at Mother New York
Nathan Hackstock becomes West Coast CD at Sapient Interactive
Frank Hahn and Naoki Ito become ECDs at W+K Tokyo

Catherine Balsam-Schwaber becomes SVP of marketing at iVillage
Chris De Luca becomes sports editor at the Chicago Sun-Times
Jennifer Howard rises to senior reporter at the Chronicle of Higher Education
James Van Der Beek files for divorce after six years



© 2009 Media Life Privacy Statement